The desk

My cool new mugs

Bailey with Shelby- we babysat Shelby while his mommy was on vacation.

My nephew attempting to dance

Sweet Pea caught a fish

My birthday was wonderful. We spent the Saturday before my birthday with some great friends. I got a set of M&M mugs that were personalized. SWEET!

The Wednesday before my birthday, my husband and girls surprised me with a new scrapbook desk and chair. I had been using a card table that was not very spacious or sturdy. I had finally branched out from the closet to moving my stuff to the play room. I did go out and purchase a lamp since the lighting in the room is not that great after the sun goes down. I have been working on the Disney scrapbook since I was inspired by seeing someone else’s progress on theirs.

On Friday, we went out to eat with my husband’s family. Chicken Fajita Nachos are one of my favorite foods!

On Saturday, my actual birthday, we went to visit my grandparent’s and my mom. My mamaw fixed one of my other top favorite foods, spaghetti with tomato juice.

On Sunday, my cousin went to church with us and then out to eat at Red Lobster. Wow, my whole weekend was filled with favorite foods!

For Father’s Day, the girls and I got Matt some UT DVD’s that he has been asking for. We visited my grandparent’s again on Sunday and hung out with the family. Mamaw even cooked for us, which is a huge task since caring for my Papaw takes up so much of her time and energy.

This past weekend, we kept my nephew. I had promised that we would go to Chuck E. Cheese when he came down and he does not forget anything. He loved Chuck. After we left, he asked if that was Mickey Mouse and I explained that it was Chuck but he is a mouse too. My nephew says, “Can you tell Mickey to come see me too?” He is a riot. At Kohl’s, he found some John Deere shirts and says, “Oh My God. You have to buy me those.” He got to pick out two, one of which I am saving for his birthday pictures since he is doing his party in tractors. We went to Norris Lake on Sunday to see all of Matt’s family. They are staying for the week for the family vacation. The kids went fishing and then ate Strudel for supper.

We went back to see the family again on Tuesday and the girls went fishing again. I never would have thought that fishing would hold their attention for very long, since it never has in the past but they both stuck with it for quite some time. The girls were disappointed that they did not get to go swimming but I will have to make that up somehow.

This weekend will be another busy weekend. It seems that something is always going on. We planned to visit my grandparents today but I woke up not feeling well. We have church on Sunday, and a party on Monday. I would like to squeeze in a little sleep and maybe a little scrapbooking time somewhere along the way but my house keeps shouting “CLEAN ME” and I keep trying to drown that sound out.

Graduation and Field Trips

I just love this picture for some reason. Bailey is such a cute doggy!

Bailey playing in the sprinkler with the kids.

Ice Cream at Mayfield's...still doesn't compare to Matt's homemade lemon ice cream (just like my Mamaw's)
Dolphin at the aquarium

American Idol couch

Coke bottles from around the world

Matt on the American Idol couch

An Albino Alligator


Each of the girls took field trips at the end of the school year. Pumpkin Pie went to the Coca Cola museum and the aquarium. Sweet Pea went to Mayfield and the park. Matt was able to go on both field trips, not that I would have ever let either of my children go out of state without one of us.
The school year has finally ended. I have been very blessed that both of my children are very smart. Sweet Pea had the highest GPA in her class and Pumpkin Pie was one of four to achieve the A and B honor roll in her class. Both also done extremely well on their standardized testing, testing out at several grade levels ahead in every subject. Pumpkin Pie even received Post High School (PHS) scores in several areas.
We had the pleasure of keeping my nephew last weekend and the kids played in the sprinkler, blew bubbles, and drew with chalk. The weather was so nice and it was a shame to stay inside. Matt also worked on fixing my new flower bed for the roses I received for Mother's Day. I will post finished pictures of it as soon as it is actually finished.
My nephew is the most hilarious kid ever, right up there with mine. Friday night on our way home, he shares with us that he has a cat and it doesn't fly. I tried to interpret this 3 year old language and thought he was referring to a kite. I was wrong...he said, "No! I have a cat and cat's don't have wings. It won't fly."
We went to my cousin's high school graduation today. It was packed in that gymnasium. We are so proud of her for graduating and hope she has a blast when she starts off to college this fall. We visited with my grandparent's after the graduation. I am looking forward to church tomorrow and relaxing on Monday. We are getting together with friend's next weekend to celebrate my upcoming birthday. I enjoy those times so much because the food is always so yummy!

Partying

The goat dressed up for the birthday party

One of the dog's dressed up for the party

Matt and Jason paddling. You would think they were both out of shape or something!

For Easter, we bought my nephew a Paper Jam Guitar. I forgot to send batteries, which I typically do try to remember to do. I had my mom deliver the toy to him and she later informed me that he did not like the guitar.

This weekend, we visited with my nephew and I asked him about the guitar. Apparently no one put batteries in it for him and he responded to me with, “It’s crap!” I explained to a 3 year old that his mom would have to put batteries in it but I am guessing that will not change his opinion much at this point.

He also asked me if he could come to my house to get presents. I explained that I sent his presents to his house because he did not come home with me on Christmas, as was planned. I listed off the things we bought him, which he did recall but says, “No, mamaw got those for me.” Again, because my mom delivered the presents to him, he associates her with the present. No more presents will be delivered through a third party.

We took the kids to Dollywood Saturday morning to make up for Pumpkin Pie having to miss a trip to Zuma with church. It wasn’t that crowded and the weather was nice (not too hot and not too cold).

We did go to visit my grandparent’s this weekend and cleaned house for mamaw. We planned to mow but it looked like it was going to rain so we put it off.

We also went to Kentucky for a birthday party this weekend. Matt and Jason were hilarious paddling the paddle boat around the pond. It was nice to hang out with friends and I plan to get up there more this summer with an extra day off from work each week.

Blast from the Past:

Sweet Pea has a different personality than most kids. She is quick to smart off and is good with comebacks. A few weeks ago, she was scratching and my mom asked her what was wrong. She responded that she had a yeast infection (which she did have over a year ago). Mom jokingly tells her that she should drink beer for that, knowing we do not allow our children around alcohol and we do not drink. Sweet Pea says, “We have A&W.”

This past week, Sweet Pea smarted off to me. Pumpkin Pie says in her Sweet Pea voice, “I’m sorry, mom.” Sweet Pea says, “That wasn’t me. I don’t say I’m sorry.” She means it too…the child is not known to apologize for anything because she means what she says when she says it and does not back down from it. I wonder where she gets that from!

Happy Mother's Day

My new dishesThe dishes in the cabinet
Matt trying to do the bunny hop on Pumpkin Pie's bicycle

I guess I got quite a bit accomplished today. I managed to clean out the top of Pumpkin Pie's closet, fix their princess frames from Disney (yeah, it has been 2 months since we went), and we took the girl's to ride their bicycles.
I also got my dishes put up in the China cabinet. They were my Mother's Day present from Matt and the girls. The dishes are identical to my mamaw's dishes that I grew up having family dinners on (well, the first part of my life). They look beautiful in the cabinet and I can't wait to have our family dinners with the dishes to create memories for my girls. Sweet Pea is in the process of growing me some Daisies and is so excited that they have sprouted.

Sweet Pea did a project at school this week in honor of Mother's Day and I had to share what she answered in the "complete the sentence" project.
1. My mom's name is Amber.
2. Mom's favorite food is Quasodea (Quesadilla).
3. In her free time, Mom likes to rest.
4. Mom likes the color yellow.
5. My mom's favorite vacation spot is Disney World.
6. Mom's favorite holiday is Mother's day.
7. She likes that holiday because we give stuff to her.
8. My mom likes it when I snuggle with her.
And the best answer is...
9. What my mom likes best about being a mother is she gets to have me.

How much more can a mom ask for on this special holiday!
Tomorrow, we are going to visit my grandparent's. My papaw is being released from the hospital with hospice so please keep them in your prayers.

Moving

The view from Matt's mom's house


We moved Matt's mom out of her house this weekend. That was a huge chore and made for a long Saturday. I am sore today! The view from her house was beautiful though. I guess that is the benefit when you live 30 minutes from civilization. We are very thankful to have her living closer by now so we have less worrying to do about her traveling back and forth.

Funny:
On our way to Matt's mom's, Sweet Pea is checking out some of the houses on the drive. If you recall, we had tornadoes this past week. Sweet Pea asks, "Mom, did they get hit by a tornado?" Matt and I reply, "No dear, Kentucky always looks this way."

Prayers:
Please pray for my Papaw. He has returned to the hospital again and antibiotics are no longer helping the infection. My grandparent's have been a major support in my life, as I am sure that most people's are, but mine have been tremendous! I love them both with all of my heart!

Funnies

Sweet Pea is the smarty pants in this house, next to me of course. Matt was cleaning behind her after breakfast last week and informed her that she needed to hold over her plate because she got Poptart crumbs everywhere. Sweet Pea replies, "That's just the way I roll."

Last night, Sweet Pea said the blessing before dinner, which is her responsibility. Midway through, I hear, "...and please don't let mommy or daddy get arrested." Hmmm, I can't say that either one of us has been yet! Maybe it has been her prayers keeping us safe.

Disney World

I usually don't post pics of the kids but since you can't see her face clearly...this is when Flynn pulled out the tiara!
It is a joke between some friends of ours that David has a crush on Pocahontas. So, of course, Matt had to have his picture made with her just to tease David.

This giraffe walked right up to our jeep and around the back during the safari trip.

Picture of the castle- I would love to have my own castle!

Matt with Donald, just because he can!

Our vacation was absolutely the best vacation ever. It was well worth the wait and we deserved it after four years with no vacation. I will try to sum the events up so as not to bore you with all of the great things we did (and by bore, I mean make you jealous).

Day one and two, we spent at Magic Kingdom. We met a bunch of the characters, attended the Princess breakfast in the castle, and rode lots of rides. Sweet Pea really enjoyed the People Mover of all things. Matt loved the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, which was really cute! Pumpkin Pie enjoyed it all so much that she really could not pick one thing. Stitch was the favorite of day two because he cleaned his ears with the girls ink pen. He also shooed Matt away from watching over his shoulder.
Day three, we went back to Magic Kingdom that morning for one purpose- to see Rapunzel. The lines for her show had been so long and it was the one thing that we just had to do. It was so worth it. We were at the end of the line for the first show and Rapunzel and Flynn spent at least 15 minutes with the girls just hanging out. Flynn also pulled the tiara out for Pumpkin Pie (which he did not do for anyone else) and gave her his "smolder" which made her all googly-eyed. Man, I am in trouble when we allow her to start dating. Rapunzel and Sweet Pea talked about Sweet Pea letting her hair grow out and how long it will take to wash and fix it!
On day three, we also visited the M&M store. I was a little disappointed but still spent enough money to make up for the disappointed feeling! I did get a necklace and earrings there to show off my love of the cute little guys.
Day four and day seven, we visited Hollywood Studios. We all agreed that Toy Story Mania was the best ride there. Matt and Pumpkin Pie rode the Tower of Terror and she didn't throw up. On day seven, Matt rode the Aerosmith roller coaster and said that it was alright but still doesn't compare to Dollywood's roller coasters.
Day five, we visited Animal Kingdom. The safari was great! I was a little upset that the staff at Animal Kingdom were not very friendly but overall, it was a nice park. We did ride Expedition Everest and Kali River Rapids. The Kali River Rapids was not my favorite. I wore a poncho to protect myself from getting soaked because the weather that day was not extremely warm. Sweet Pea looked like she stepped out of a shower after the ride and I came out quite wet as well. Matt and Pumpkin Pie barely had a drop of water on them, which didn't really seem fair.
Day six, we visited Epcot. The countries were beautiful and the kids enjoyed collecting the stamps from the different countries. We had Mexican dinner that night and I was not impressed with the food. They refused to make any accommodations to my meal, even putting the rice on the side instead of under my fish! Maybe I sound whiny but seriously! We received VIP treatment for the 3 Caballeros ride, just because the girls looked super cute. There are perks to having cute kids after all!
We were going to spend day eight at Magic Kingdom but we woke up to pouring down rain with no sign of letting up for awhile so we headed on home. We had some wonderful meals and the meal plan was well worth it. Our travel agent was super and arranged everything, giving us other tips as well. If you are considering a travel agent, let me know and I will hook you up. She even arranged a special family photo shoot for us at one of the hotels (so the castle would be in the background). The girls had so much fun and it was the family vacation that I always wanted when I was a kid. I am so glad that I had the opportunity to give this trip to my girls and hope to do so again in a few years. It is truly the most magical place on earth.